Remaining Cougars gave fans just enough optimism for future
SAN DIEGO - It may not be a trophy, but a depleted Washington State football team returned from the Holiday Bowl with some other prizes for its beleaguered fanbase: joy and expectations.
From the game's opening moments, firsttime WSU starting quarterback Zevi Eckhaus showed that the Cougars can continue to have excellent play on offense even after losing their QB in back-to-back seasons.
His flawless opening touchdown drive was a salvation for fans who have spent the past month watching their team disintegrate before their eyes, and their chances of winning the bowl game seem to diminish in equal measure.
"I think it goes to say even more everything that this team has went through in the past three weeks, the amount of changes, the amount of departures. There was a similar situation that happened to Marshall (University), and they backed out of their game," Eckhaus said. "I think that just goes to show who WSU is. Who we are, we're not going to back down. We had a similar situation happen, but everybody is here. Everybody showed up. Everybody that we needed to go out there and perform performed."
Don't let the inflated final margin fool you. For most of this game WSU fans were jubilant online, in the stands, and presumably in livings rooms and bars across the West Coast.
When it was over, the Cougars lost by 17. And when it was over, WSU fans in the stands, online, and presumably in bars and living rooms across the country cheered their effort.
Maybe when a couple of dozen players elect to leave a team, what remains is the team in its most concentrated, most committed form.
The players who are not waiting for a better offer. The players who believe WSU is a destination rather than an audition.
Guys like Kyle Williams, who eschewed the transfer portal last year and set a Holiday Bowl record with 172 receiving yards on Friday.
Happy Hanukkah, Zevi Eckhaus. WSU's Jewish quarterback was a light leading an offense that had been listless of late, even before starting QB John Mateer took his talents to Norman, Oklahoma. Eckhaus, who is technically redshirting this season, played fearlessly, rushing time and again into the defense and giving Cougars fans plenty to be excited about for next season.
He probably made himself some NIL money, too.
Eckhaus' first bad pass, an interception, came with 10:23 left in the second quarter. By that point he had completed nine passes for 151 yards, thrown for one score and ran for another. His previously uncovered proficiency immediately changed the dynamics of a game that most pundits, and bettors, predicted to be a Syracuse romp.
One "only in 2024" moment came with the saga of Stephen Hall. The WSU cornerback is in the transfer portal and excitedly announced on X (Twitter) that Ole Miss had offered him a scholarship, just hours before the game started.
That offer may have only been good for a few hours.
Kudos to Hall for playing, but Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin probably was not impressed by Hall's second defensive series, which saw him get turned around on a wobbly 29-yard pass from Syracuse's Kyle McCord. Hall also was in coverage on McCord's 19-yard touchdown pass two plays later.
The first two passes on the next series were also at Hall, and both were completed, despite the embattled cornerback being called for defensive holding prior to the second pass. See you next year in Oxford!
None of WSU's defensive backs had great games, and they had perhaps the game's toughest matchup. McCord started his career at Ohio State, but his bowl game performance makes him the ACC's all-time single-season passing leader with 4,779 yards. His three starting receivers are strong and have great ball skills. They flipped the field on WSU repeatedly with tough, contested catches against credible defense.
Ultimately, it is the postseason winners who are remembered. The 2024 Holiday Bowl loss to Syracuse is not likely to warrant many retrospectives or inclusion on best-of lists. But I hope WSU fans hold this final group of players as dear as any. For the performance they gave, in the circumstances they faced, deserve to be remembered with pride.
"I know it's pretty easy to keep track of the ones who don't want to be a part of the team. The Cougs who want to be Cougs are a little harder to track, but they're in there," senior linebacker Kyler Thornton said. "Being inside the locker room there's a lot of guys in there that bleed crimson and gray and they want to be Cougs for life."
SAN DIEGO - It may not be a trophy, but a depleted Washington State football team returned from the Holiday Bowl with some other prizes for its beleaguered fanbase: joy and expectations.
From the game's opening moments, firsttime WSU starting quarterback Zevi Eckhaus showed that the Cougars can continue to have excellent play on offense even after losing their QB in back-to-back seasons.
His flawless opening touchdown drive was a salvation for fans who have spent the past month watching their team disintegrate before their eyes, and their chances of winning the bowl game seem to diminish in equal measure.
"I think it goes to say even more everything that this team has went through in the past three weeks, the amount of changes, the amount of departures. There was a similar situation that happened to Marshall (University), and they backed out of their game," Eckhaus said. "I think that just goes to show who WSU is. Who we are, we're not going to back down. We had a similar situation happen, but everybody is here. Everybody showed up. Everybody that we needed to go out there and perform performed."
Don't let the inflated final margin fool you. For most of this game WSU fans were jubilant online, in the stands, and presumably in livings rooms and bars across the West Coast.
When it was over, the Cougars lost by 17. And when it was over, WSU fans in the stands, online, and presumably in bars and living rooms across the country cheered their effort.
Maybe when a couple of dozen players elect to leave a team, what remains is the team in its most concentrated, most committed form.
The players who are not waiting for a better offer. The players who believe WSU is a destination rather than an audition.
Guys like Kyle Williams, who eschewed the transfer portal last year and set a Holiday Bowl record with 172 receiving yards on Friday.
Happy Hanukkah, Zevi Eckhaus. WSU's Jewish quarterback was a light leading an offense that had been listless of late, even before starting QB John Mateer took his talents to Norman, Oklahoma. Eckhaus, who is technically redshirting this season, played fearlessly, rushing time and again into the defense and giving Cougars fans plenty to be excited about for next season.
He probably made himself some NIL money, too.
Eckhaus' first bad pass, an interception, came with 10:23 left in the second quarter. By that point he had completed nine passes for 151 yards, thrown for one score and ran for another. His previously uncovered proficiency immediately changed the dynamics of a game that most pundits, and bettors, predicted to be a Syracuse romp.
One "only in 2024" moment came with the saga of Stephen Hall. The WSU cornerback is in the transfer portal and excitedly announced on X (Twitter) that Ole Miss had offered him a scholarship, just hours before the game started.
That offer may have only been good for a few hours.
Kudos to Hall for playing, but Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin probably was not impressed by Hall's second defensive series, which saw him get turned around on a wobbly 29-yard pass from Syracuse's Kyle McCord. Hall also was in coverage on McCord's 19-yard touchdown pass two plays later.
The first two passes on the next series were also at Hall, and both were completed, despite the embattled cornerback being called for defensive holding prior to the second pass. See you next year in Oxford!
None of WSU's defensive backs had great games, and they had perhaps the game's toughest matchup. McCord started his career at Ohio State, but his bowl game performance makes him the ACC's all-time single-season passing leader with 4,779 yards. His three starting receivers are strong and have great ball skills. They flipped the field on WSU repeatedly with tough, contested catches against credible defense.
Ultimately, it is the postseason winners who are remembered. The 2024 Holiday Bowl loss to Syracuse is not likely to warrant many retrospectives or inclusion on best-of lists. But I hope WSU fans hold this final group of players as dear as any. For the performance they gave, in the circumstances they faced, deserve to be remembered with pride.
"I know it's pretty easy to keep track of the ones who don't want to be a part of the team. The Cougs who want to be Cougs are a little harder to track, but they're in there," senior linebacker Kyler Thornton said. "Being inside the locker room there's a lot of guys in there that bleed crimson and gray and they want to be Cougs for life."
